Cardinal George Pell of Australia Sentenced to Six Years in Prison. The 77-year-old cardinal, once an adviser to Pope Francis, was sentenced to six years in prison by a Melbourne court on Wednesday morning.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/world/australia/george-pell-sentence.html

Hear ye, Hear ye! A Roman Catholic Cardinal has been sentenced to six years in prison for sexually abusing two boys, IN THE CHURCH, in 1996. Just the first of many who will bite the dust in coming months and years as the courts grind through the plethora of abuse and cover-ups perpetrated by the single broadest scale, longest lasting, and by far most successful criminal enterprise in the history of the world! Already there are complaints about the meager length of the sentence, but not to worry. The length is no-where near as important as the sentence itself. It’s never happened before, and not because there have not been plenty of cases that justified it.

Recall the Pennsylvania debacle of at the very least 1,000 children suffering abuse at the hands of countless priests over at least the past seventy years. In the report it was explained that in the mid-70’s a case was brought against a priest who had abused at least 5 boys. It was reported that the Cardinal had gone to the District Attorney at the time, and suggested that it would be best for everyone to let the matter go away, resulting in the DA’s withdrawal of the case. Much to the chagrin of the church, that DA, while retired, was still alive and called to appear before the Grand Jury. In an almost surreal disclosure, he testified that yes he had done that. He explained that the church would have withdrawn their support for him in his upcoming bid for re-election, if he had not, and he feared for his career. He said he had deeply regretted that decision.

One is left to wonder how many times over the decades, or centuries as the case may be, that lever has been pulled by the Church heavy-weights on elected officials, to keep quiet and look the other way…or else! In this land where church is supposedly separated from state, Has it really? Or has it just been a different version of what’s gone on over the ages, retrofitted for the time and place. Control the hearts and the votes, dictate the terms. Hmmm…….

The upshot was that the priest who got away was transferred over the years, to at least three other churches in different parts of the country, each time to be moved because of concerns being raised, and each time with the referral to his new lair & awaiting victims, including his recommendation for being an exemplary priest in good standing. Not until years later was he forced to retire, leaving open the question of how many children that sicko was able to catch in his evil web.

When we hear the words “What Goes Around Comes Around” we are often torn about whether we really believe it is true, and It is cases just like this one, particularly if we have suffered some injustice personally, that can fill us with that doubt. Moreover, it can be perpetrated on an individual or institutional level, or in this case both! And the fact is that some people and/or institutions are a combination of VERY smart, clever & deceptive, willing to lie, and without remorse, that may keep the smoke screens working for some indeterminate amount of time.

But, and it is a very large BUT! The way it works, is that the longer they succeed in pushing out the consequences because of how clever and smart they are, the DEEPER the pit they are digging for themselves every day, for when that light ultimately shines on them.

We’ve seen it play out with the insider trading scandals of a few years ago, sports betting and use of illegal substances, Ponzi schemes, the #MeToo Movement and many more, and just getting revved up here!

Rob Davis
rdavis134@gmail.com